"Can a Culinary Heart really have defects?" Mo Bai asked, puzzled.
"Of course it can. If one suffers a major psychological blow or undergoes some kind of mental distortion or perversion while the Culinary Heart is still forming, it can even become damaged. Even if one stays strong and pushes through that trial, the resulting Culinary Heart will still be missing something."
Since Mo Bai hadn't experienced the 'hatching' phase of a Culinary Heart yet, Xiao Bai knew he lacked a personal frame of reference, so it began to use examples.
"Let's take Liu Aoxing from Cooking Master Boy as a case study. His Culinary Heart likely began to hatch and take shape after his mother, Chen Bangling, passed away. Ultimately, his Culinary Heart transformed from 'Mother's Taste' into 'Cooking that Gives People Happiness.'
"But... what if his Culinary Heart had started hatching before his mother passed away?"
"Imagine him possessing a pure, innocent heart full of longing, yearning for that 'Mother's Taste,' and then—boom, his mom is gone.
"What do you think would happen then?"
"Could it be—the script where the former genius loses his Culinary Heart in a single day, carries a blood feud for his lost mother, and embarks on a quest to slay the traitorous disciple Shao An?!"
Mo Bai, who hadn't felt the gravity of it before, suddenly shuddered. "Holy crap! Now that I think about it, that's actually surprisingly badass!"
Wait! This was Cooking Master Boy!
A childhood memory for countless people!
Changing it that wildly was practically a crime against the whole nation!
"Dammit! Did you really have to use such a brutal example?" Mo Bai snapped out of it, realizing they weren't exactly writing a screenplay here.
"..." Xiao Bai found it impossible to comment on Mo Bai's peculiar train of thought.
It was truly just trying to explain why a Culinary Heart could have defects or damage.
What the hell was 'the former genius loses his Culinary Heart in a single day, carries a blood feud for his lost mother, and embarks on a quest to slay the traitorous disciple Shao An' supposed to be?!
Though, thinking about it carefully, it really was quite a compelling hook.
On one side was the legendary son of 'Bei Xiannv of Sichuan' whose family was destroyed and mother killed; on the other was the favored child of heaven who was already an Advanced Chef upon his debut, and later joined the Dark Cooking Society with Special-Grade strength...
Xiao Bai was already mentally filling in the blanks for this alternate-timeline Liu Aoxing—how he would face the hardships, push against the wind, and take it one step at a time with the help of gathered teammates and his mother's friends, finally standing before the alternate-timeline Shao An.
"Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west—never underestimate a youth for being poor!
"Yesterday's humiliation shall be repaid a hundredfold today!
"Shao An! Allow me to put an end to your sinful career as a chef!"
Dammit, why did it feel more and more badass the more it thought about it?
Regardless of what Xiao Bai was thinking, Mo Bai, having understood the reason, fell into deep thought.
Seeing the wistful look on Zhang Yu's face whenever he mentioned the Culinary Heart, Mo Bai suppressed his curiosity.
"It seems Chef Zhang Yu is also a man with a story."
"I've made a fool of myself." Zhang Yu ended his reminiscence with a long, slow sigh.
"Actually, there's something I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you, Chef Zhang Yu." Mo Bai scratched his cheek, putting on a bashful act. "The truth is, I'm also a Daoist."
Daoist~
Daoist
Dao~shii~
In Zhang Yu's perspective, the way Mo Bai's lips moved seemed to be replayed in slow motion.
Crack!
Mo Bai heard some kind of background sound of something shattering, followed by the sight of Zhang Yu's expression gradually turning to horror. His tiny, mung-bean-sized eyes bulged until they were as big as walnuts.
"Chef Zhang Yu?" Just as Mo Bai was about to step closer, he was shocked to see Zhang Yu's round body shoot toward the sky with a whoosh.
He outran Liu Xiang and leaped higher than Javier Sotomayor; his entire body stuck to the ceiling of the private room like a gecko.
"...My god, I didn't expect Chef Zhang Yu's psychological trauma to be this massive." Mo Bai was startled by Zhang Yu's act of scurrying onto the ceiling, his jaw dropping.
"Ch-Chef Zhang Yu, are you okay?" Mo Bai swallowed hard. It seemed he had accidentally blown things out of proportion again.
"Don't come over!" Zhang Yu's roar, full of vigor, carried a trembling tail-end that inexplicably reminded Mo Bai of Peter Ho's portrayal of Bu Jingyun.
"Uh, Chef Zhang Yu, I was just joking with you." Mo Bai, who had been quite happy to be a bit of a brat, quickly explained.
"Don't come over! Stay right there and talk!"
"Okay, okay, okay! Don't get excited, I'll stay right here." Seeing Zhang Yu's eyes turning red with anxiety, Mo Bai was equally terrified.
This guy was a spherical tyrannosaurus; if he lost his mind, who knew what he'd do? Mo Bai's small frame definitely couldn't handle being torn apart by him.
"I really was just playing a joke on you."
"Are you sure?!"
Watching Zhang Yu—a round, prosperous-looking middle-aged man—clinging to the ceiling in a state of panic, Mo Bai inexplicably felt he was a bit cute.
Cough, cough. This was bad. It felt like some terrible, twisted hobby was awakening within him.
"Think about it, if I were a Daoist, I wouldn't be living in a temple like this young girl? Where would I find the time to come out and fool around?"
Once his heart rate returned to the safety zone, Zhang Yu finally recovered his logic from the depths of his soul-crushing fear.
After thinking it over, it did make sense, but he still didn't feel psychologically secure, so he confirmed one more time.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"True, truer than 24K pure gold."
"Then swear it!"
"...Fine, fine, fine, I swear: If I am a Daoist, may heaven strike me with lightning!"
Even after hearing Mo Bai swear, Zhang Yu remained in a psychological struggle, debating whether or not he should come down.
Mo Bai covered his face with his hand.
Mother of god! Was this really just psychological trauma? Even a phobia wouldn't reach this level, would it?
"Senior, what are you two...?" Beside them, Yukie, who had been staring blankly after eating her fill, finally snapped out of her daze. Her bright eyes darted between Mo Bai and Zhang Yu on the ceiling, looking completely bewildered.
"We felt like getting some exercise after the meal, so Chef Zhang Yu demonstrated the legendary Gecko Wall-Climbing Art for me." Mo Bai's lies came naturally.
"Yes." Zhang Yu finally jumped down from the ceiling.
However, Mo Bai noticed that he seemed to have lost a bit of weight. When his gaze fell on the bulging veins on the back of Zhang Yu's hand—well, the spherical tyrannosaurus had entered combat-ready mode.
"The customers on the sixth floor have been relocated, and the entire floor has been cordoned off.
"When do we set out?" Zhang Yu said with a straight face.
Yukie looked at her slightly protruding belly and blinked.
"Is it that urgent?" Her tone was a bit weak.
"..."
Because of the deliciousness of Chef Zhang Yu's Whole Fish Feast, by the time the three of them gathered again, it was already the middle of the night.
Feeling incredibly embarrassed, Yukie bowed repeatedly. "I am so sorry! Because of me, I've kept you both waiting for so long."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. It gave us some time to rest anyway." Mo Bai looked at Zhang Yu again. Although his muscles were still tense, that dangerous feeling of being on the verge of exploding after being teased was gone.
While they talked, the elevator reached the sixth floor.
When the doors opened, the massive sixth floor was dead silent in the dim environment. Just looking at it gave one a heart-fluttering sensation that something was about to lung out.
"Chef Zhang Yu, aren't we going to turn on the lights?" Mo Bai had one foot out when he suddenly turned his head to ask.
"Uh, I turned them off earlier to avoid alerting the target. The switch for the sixth floor is in the staff room at the very back, and I have the key. Do you want to turn them on now?"
"Forget it. If we turn them on now, wouldn't we look like cowards?" Mo Bai held his head high and stepped onto the sixth floor.
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